Skull & Shackles

Pirates

Day 1

29

SEP/12

They woke up in a state of disorientation. The last thing they remembered was drinking and laughing at the Formidable Maid in the Shackles’ capital, Port Peril. They quickly realized they were not alone in this dark swaying room. There are three others, who seem to be in very similar states. Before they can do much other than sit up, heavy footsteps enter the room. The four prisoners quickly realize they have been stripped of their gear, save for a gun. There are seven pirates. The Elf with the gun knows she is outnumbered, so she holds off on an attack. The leading pirate informs the prisoners that the captain is ready to speak. The prisoners don’t put up a fight, but they are dragged to the main deck. They realize they’re on a sizable ship surrounded by pirates. They also soon learn they weren’t the only ones captured. The captain quickly informs the prisoners that they are now part of the Wormwood’s crew. They will not speak to the captain, who introduces himself as Captain Barnabas Harrigan. They soon learn that they will deal with the ship’s first mate, Mr. Plugg and the boatswain, Master Scourge.

As the cruel Mr. Plugg prepares to test the prisoners in order to assign them to their new jobs, one prisoner tests him by giving snarky comments. Mr. Plugg quickly gives him one rope bash and leaves him with a warning of more punishment during the Bloody Hour. Each prisoner is quickly tested and assigned to cook’s mate, rigger, and swabs respectively.

Down in the galley Ezra, the new cook’s mate, introduces himself to Ambrose “Fishguts” Kroop, his new boss. Fishguts seems amiable, though mildly drunk and takes Ezra’s criticisms with light-heartedness. They quickly get to making the day’s meals.

Back on the main deck, Mr. Plugg quickly puts his new rigger, Celes, to work. Preparing to laugh at her failure and expecting to see her punished during the Bloody Hour, Mr. Plugg is sorely disappointed when Celes completes her work with ease. With a smug smile, Celes knows she has her work cut out for her, but she’s ready to master the pirate life.

Not far from Mr. Plugg, Master Scourge is ordering his new swabs, Zarzuket and Cylus, to make the needed repairs on the ship. Though Cylus gives Master Scourge a challenging time, he gets the work done with his now webbed hands and feet. Unlike Cylus, Zarzu seems rather compliant and quietly works away while sizing up his enemy. During their work, Cylus and Zarzu briefly introduce themselves, seemingly becoming allies.

Back in the galley, Ezra decides to probe Fishguts as to the whereabouts of his gear. Fishguts informs Ezra that the Quatermaster’s Store, guarded by his friend Cut-Throat Grok, is where captain keeps all the ship’s booty. Ezra manages to sneak away from meal duty for a while and approaches Grok. He attempts to persuade her to return his gear, but Grok is not a pushover. When he realizes his attempts are failing and he has nothing tangible to trade, Ezra tries to prostitute himself in exchange for his belongings. Feeling that the booty stored is worth more than Ezra’s booty, Grok shuts him down. Feeling rejected and having gained nothing, Ezra returns to work.

When the clock bell rings, signaling dusk and the end of the workday, the crew is gathered on the main deck for the Bloody Hour. Only Ezra knows that this is the allotted hour for pirate punishment. Mr. Plugg has a scared pirate, Magpie brought to him. He informs the crew that Magpie will receive a keelhauling for stealing from the Quarter Master’s Store the previous night. Magpie is lowered under water and dragged under the ship for a little over a minute. When he comes out on the other side, his body has been shredded. He is soon thrown overboard, where the fish and sharks eat his remains.

With punishment out of the way, the evening meal and rum rations are given out, signaling the beginning of pirate entertainment time. Ezra, Cylus, Zarzu, and Celes are loaned 20 gp by Fishguts who introduces them to pirate arm wrestling. Ezra decides to challenge the lone, angry rogue Crimson Cogward. Always ready for a fight, Crimson agrees and they take their seats. They soon learn that pirate arm wrestling is no ordinary wrestle. They are playing on a table with two knives protruding from it, positioned in such a way that whoevers hand goes down will be hurt. The battle ends astonishingly fast, with Ezra the clear champion. The group takes their money and moves on to another game.

Ezra feeling the high from his victory takes his chances at Heave. He plays against Rosie Cusswell and Conchobhar Shortstone. As the game goes on, each participant is rapidly feeling the effects of rum. Ezra considers backing out, but feels there is too much on the line. Rosie loses her judgment ability and literally drinks herself to her death. Watching Rosie drop as she did, Conchobhar feels intimidated by Ezra and backs out of the game, Ezra winning by default. Ezra collects his winnings and loots Rosie’s body as well, collecting a few valuable items. Unsure of what to do with Rosie’s lifeless body, Ezra and Celes look for someone to tell. This is when they meet Sandara Quinn who says she noticed them earlier and felt bad about their circumstance. In an effort to befriend the new crew members she convinced Grok to give her some of their items, convincing Grok that Besmara would curse anyone who wrongfully held them. Sandara returns some of the prisoners’ gear and helps Ezra and Celes throw Rosie’s body overboard.

In another part of the main deck, Cylus tries to work out some of his differences with Master Scourge. He hopes to make Scourge take it a bit easy on him during the next day’s work. Though Scourge starts off quite hostile towards Cylus, he leaves this encounter feeling rather indifferent.

Down in the Quarter Master’s Store, Zarzu tries his luck at persuading Grok to be friendlier to him, but he has no luck with the hard shelled lady.

After a long day of work, play, and just plain pirating, the group turns in to their hammocks for the night, awaiting the next day’s adventures!